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Sri Lanka to explore crude oil | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Authorities in Sri Lanka are planning to call for bids from international oil companies to explore crude oil off the north-western and south-eastern coast. The bids will be opened in July and closed in December this year, Petroleum Minister AHM Fowzie told BBC Sandeshaya. Crude oil has already found off Mannar and Jaffna, he added. “I am certain that we will find oil off Hambantota,too,” he told bbcsinhala.com. It is significant that Sri Lanka is situated in an oil belt between Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, according to the minister. He denied suggestions that the issue has once again been highlighted while an election campaign is underway. The minister stressed that Sri Lanka will directly be involved, unlike in many oil rich countries, into the process of oil exploration and purification so that it will be beneficial to the country. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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India's frustration with Sri Lanka over Tamils